Hopping on Cloud Nine
by psyanic
Summary: The first rule: history is flexible. It's best to keep it that way. But there are always a few rule breakers. One trainer wants to do just that.
1. Prologue: Walking on Air

**Notes: **Living up to my New Year's resolution: start and finish a multi-chaptered fic. This idea has just clung in my head for a while. I kind of suspect John Lennon quotes. Anyway, criticism and reviews are always helpful! Also, this is basically an OT fic.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Pokemon.

Cloud Nine

Prologue: Walking on Air

I guess I just wasn't meant to be happy.

Then again, I don't even know what happiness is. I can't tell it apart from an emotion or a state. When I think of happiness, I don't think of a smile. I don't think of a light. I imagine nothing, a void of no feeling. If I think about it, it wasn't always like this.

I had a modest group of friends. On summer days, we'd go fishing for magikarp to see who could catch the largest. Then we'd see who could throw the farthest. It was a time of innocence and ignorance. When you're in elementary school, nothing bothers you other than who's the fastest and who's the tallest. I miss those days. Happiness meant something to me.

My friends and I attended the same school, the Trainer's Academy in Rustboro. It was mandatory for all people to graduate from a certified academy to train pokemon. Of course, we wanted to. We stayed at the school, only getting holidays off.

I dared to hope on that last day. We had just finished the graduation ceremony. Everyone who passed the exams received a plastic card with their name on it. They cherished it as if it was a plump diamond in their hands. They were our trainer's licenses. Our dreams were now just a step closer. The world lay ahead of us, waiting for a decision. I placed mine in my pocket the second I got it. School was finally over. I stood silently and let the scene sink in before walking out of the dry classroom and into the humid summer air.

A taillow flock flew overhead, cawing loudly. I moved down the street in a slight trance. I was unsure. Tomorrow was the day I was supposed to leave. I was having second thoughts, even though everything was set in stone. I approached the bus stop at the far end of the street. It was a small distance from the Rustboro tunnel. I remember hearing the distant screeches of the whismur as they huddled together in the depths of the cave. The single bus was parked on the pavement, its engine roaring as people entered orderly. This bus's route followed through to Verdanturf to Mauville. I lived between both cities.

I bounded up the metallic steps and through the long hall of leather seats on both sides. I hurriedly moved past the legs and arms stuck out in the aisle, most belonging to other students. I made my way towards the back and sat down.

"Hey," the girl in the seat said. Her name was Ellie. She looked away from the window and stared at me with a broad smile. She moved her backpack off the seat and onto the floor, making enough room for me.

I sat there wordlessly. I shuffled closer to her so that I was more in the seat rather than in the aisle. The full of effect of what was about to happen tomorrow hit me again. I cleared my throat and said, "This was our last day wasn't it?"

She blinked twice before reaching in her bag and pulled out her own trainer card. She beamed with pride. "This speaks for itself doesn't it?"

I smiled back.

"I'm all set too! My mom helped me out a bit with the packing, but I really got everything," she went on. "That egg you gave me hatched, so I got my starter!"

"That's great! And just in time too."

"Lucky me right?" Ellie looked at her feet as they dangled from the seat.

I sighed. It wasn't an unhappy sigh. It was content. The breath escaped my lips as if I was relaxing. I leaned back in the leather seat as the bus jerked forward and began moving forward. I looked at her and found that she had her face nearly pressed up against the window, watching the greens of the trees swish by in a blur. I felt the bus tilt as we began ascending the rocky terrain. We could see the gray sky poking out above the forest.

I cleared my throat. "So . . ."

She turned away from the window. "Hmm?"

"I was kind of wondering . . . if you wanted to travel with me," I practically mumbled. I bent my head down. My hair fell over and hid my eyes.

"I didn't hear the last part," she giggled lightly. "Can you say that again?"

I looked up with newfound courage. "Will you travel with me?"

I can remember she had a strange look on her face, one that I had never seen before on her. I was sure it wasn't disgust or some kind of rejection. It was almost excited. She parted her lips and began speaking. "Y-"

There was a roar that interrupted her. It shattered the windows on the bus so that the shards sprayed onto the other passengers. It flew in as if it was harsh snow. The only thing I heard was the pounding in my ears. I looked over at her, but she remained calm. She sat with her hands in her lap and closed her eyes.

Then I remember the sensation of falling.


	2. Chapter 1: Intersections

**Notes:** Well, that was a long time. I had this chapter hostage for a little over a month. Actually, I got lazy/busy/whatever-excuse so yeah. I finally sat down and just wrote down junk. Cheer for procrastination and all his friends! 

**Chapter 1: Intersections**

_Screams. Cracks. Tears._

_Land and sky flipped. I was facing the smoky sky; gas filled my nostrils. It took a second for me to realize that I was alive. Then the pain crashed down on me. I blinked again. Multicolored wires, sparks, and rust chips fluttered around me like bloody snowflakes._

_Her arms jiggled. Ellie was moving._

_"Don't move," I whispered to her, no air for shouting. She glanced at me. Maybe she heard. I closed my eyes and listened to my heartbeat, slowing with each breath. I lay there and I couldn't do a damned thing about it. _

-

It was dusk when the battle was at its finale. Dim lights bounced off the clear windows. Occasional flashes escaped from the gym like streaks of lightning.

The few people in the stands watched intently as the black bird sliced through the air, narrowly avoiding the jet stream of water, which soared just below its feathery collar. It cawed, mocking the lone kingdra planted inside the gym's pool, stuck within the center. The crow's beak curved into a smile as stars shot into the air. Shrill cackles bounced around the walls when the Swift attack pelted its wings. The kingdra prepared to strike again, but the crow flew higher and higher, just out of range. Feathers fluttered down, mangled and torn, the kingdra staring through them with angry, squinted eyes.

_We won't win at this rate_, Clair thought grimly. The honchkrow kept close to the ceiling flying in circles, almost as if it refused to attack. _Wait a minute_. Her pokemon heaved and forced itself to attack again. There was a glower on the gym leader's face, frowning upon her opponent's tactics. She had to come up with a way to even the odds.

But it was too late. Vulgar taunts had long provoked the kingdra. It ignored its trainer and shot more water at a noticeably weaker propulsion, water dripping from its lips as it heaved to catch its breath.

"Nice work, Gummy!" the challenger shouted. The honchkrow winked at its trainer and banked away from the next attack, laughing as fatigue wore down the kingdra's face. _Only a few more seconds and it'll all be over_, he thought.

"Stop damn it!" the gym leader shouted through grit teeth. To her relief, the kingdra stopped for a few moments to catch its breath. Clair sighed in relief and began to mouth an order, but the kingdra had plans of its own. An orb formed at its agape mouth, crackling with energy. The gym leader groaned and could only watch her dragon squirm.

But the honchkrow was ready. Just as it was trained, it bide its time and waited for the perfect moment. A glint appeared in the dragon's eyes as the crow flapped its wings one last time, straightening its neck to become an inky blur. Sucker Punch, the gym leader realized. The Hyper Beam went off and sailed into the roof. Water splashed high into the air and met the falling debris. Clair shielded her eyes from the dust, also hiding her gloom.

The challenger stood with his arms crossed, grinning maliciously. His strategy worked to perfection. Soft mist dispersed as the honchkrow flapped its ebony wings and glided back smoothly onto its trainer's shoulder.

Clair's kingdra remained in place, unmoving. Slowly, the gym leader grabbed her pokeball and returned the pokemon, letting a heavy sigh escape her lips. She clipped the ball back onto her belt, the loss plaguing her mind. The challenger strut over with a wide grin. When he reached her, he held out his hand, which met her detesting glare.

Clair reluctantly pulled out a badge and slapped it on the challenger's skin. "Congratulations kid," she forced herself to say, words dripping with acid.

"My name's Cole, not kid. Didn't you hear that when I challenged you?" He smirked and shook her hand. Cole laughed and waved as he left, the badge caught the light of the sun and shined for a brief moment.

A girl bumped into him. "Hey loser."

"Hi idiot," he responded, dusting his shoulder off.

"You know, you were an ass that whole battle."

"The badge speaks for itself." He waved it in front of her face.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a duplicate. "I won mine too, doofus."

"Whatever." Cole reached into his pocket and pulled out two wrapped pieces of gum. He fed one to his honchkrow. It chewed on the gum vigorously, wrapper and all. And then he popped the other piece into his mouth.

"Your strategy was so predictable. I would have beat you," she said firmly.

"That's because I use that strategy for every gym, so of course you'd know it sis. Don't try to act so special."

Chloe shrugged. She didn't feel like arguing anymore. "Is it even healthy for Gummy to chew gum?"

"Beats me. Gummy hasn't choked or anything so I think it's fine." The bird nodded and continued chewing.

She shook her head. The two trainers walked down the dusty street. A fat, pink bubble continually inflated and popped, each burst making a crisp crack to fill the silence. They walked until they realized they didn't have any destination in mind.

Cole stopped first, holding his sister back from moving any further. "Chloe, where are we going again?"

The girl turned back to her brother, uncertain. She thought for a moment and grinned. Cole blinked. Chloe said, "We have a few weeks until the Silver Conference. We both have all our badges so how about a short vacation? I want to relax for a bit."

"I don't know. I thought we'd be training," he pondered. "But hey, we haven't seen any other the others for a while have we? We could see them again. We only chat on the phone, so meeting up sounds like a good idea."

"Sure, why not? I think they all have their badges. Do you have your pokegear on you?" Cole nodded and pulled it out from his pocket. He held it away before she could grab it. "Hey what's the big idea?"

"Why do you want to use mine? You have your own."

"Mine's dead." He rolled his eyes and handed it to her. Chloe turned it on and began looking through his contacts. "So who should we call first?"

"Doesn't matter." Cole stepped away from her and sat at a vacant bench. He returned his honchkrow and relaxed on the painted wood, drowning out the sounds of his sister pounding numbers into the pokegear.

-

The sun dipped below the horizon as Goldenrod began to fall asleep. Shops started to close down; streetlights flickered on. The few pedestrians hurried home for supper.

A boy pushed the doors open and left the Game Corner, his hypno strolling beside him. He wiped his forehead with a sleeve. He frowned as he saw the sweat embedded into the fabric. He lightly flapped the collar of his shirt and continued down the street. The two deviated from the main street and wandered into the narrow alleyways.

The hypno wrinkled his elongated nose with two pudgy fingers. The alleys had a strange smell to them, and the hypno wondered how his trainer became resilient to the odors. He looked up at his trainer, wondering. "Are you okay with this Tate?"

The boy went on further, his eyes locked ahead. "With what?"

"Never mind," the hypno turned away.

"No. What do you want Soma?"

"I said forget it. I'm done with the same conversations. We've been together for what, five years? I'm not arguing anymore. Do whatever the hell you want. You won't listen to me anyway." The pokemon avoided his trainer's dull stare and suddenly became interested in shining his pendulum. Tate sighed, but spoke no more. Their footsteps echoed in the empty alley. A chilled summer breeze passed by, their hair flickered with the wind. They reached the end of the passage and faced the dark harbor.

The trainer's pocket lit up as his pokegear began ringing. He carefully fished it out and frowned after he read the caller ID.

"Who is it?" Soma asked. He craned his neck up to get a better view, but couldn't make out the letters.

"Cole."

"Are you going to pick it up or send it to voicemail?"

Tate turned away and clicked the answer button. He held the receiver to his ear and spoke softy into the microphone, "Hello?"

"Um . . . hey, is this Tate?" The voice was feminine.

"Yeah, who's calling?"

"Don't tell me you don't recognize me! It's Chloe!" the other side giggled. "I just stole Cole's phone since mine kind of died."

"Oh," Tate said, flatly.

"So how have you been?"

"Fine."

Chloe clicked her tongue. "That's a short answer. You almost never answer our calls and all. We haven't seen each other for a while, you know that?"

"What's your point?" he replied bluntly.

"Snappy, snappy," Chloe said. She almost laughed as she talked. "Well, I was trying to get everyone together again. It'll be like before, ya know?"

Tate thought for a moment before saying, "Who do you mean 'everyone'?"

"All of us. We're all in Johto this year, so I think it's a good idea. We haven't properly met up since . . . you know."

He balled up a fist by his leg and bit his lip. A second passed by before Tate relaxed and leaned on the harbor railing. The night sea swelled up into his nostrils. He closed his eyes and said, "Okay. When and where are we meeting?"

"I was thinking about Goldenrod, since we could do a lot there. And as soon as possible, but if you can't make it right now that's okay."

He hesitated and said, "No, I can make it."

"Good! I think I'll call you once we get into Goldenrod, so keep your pokegear with 'cha! Okay? Bye Tate!" She hung up and left him with the flat tone.

He leisurely dropped his phone back in his pocket and leaned over the rustic rail. A cargo ship bellowed as it eased itself into the harbor. Tate sighed heavily and stared at his fidgeting fingers.

The hypno spoke up, "Looks like you're booked up for a while." The trainer eyed him. "I think it's great."

Tate walked off towards the outskirts of the city. The hypno followed him obediently, flicking the gleaming pendulum into motion as he went.

_Clink._


End file.
